AQW 52158/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 16/09/2026
Answered On Date: 01/10/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health for an update on his Department's work to ensure all people diagnosed with cancer are offered appropriate and targeted information and support to live well.

Answer:

(i)Commissioning arrangements for community and voluntary sector services are delivered through a range of mechanisms and organisations, reflecting differing statutory responsibilities, service priorities and local population needs. Information relating to commissioned services, funding levels and service coverage is therefore held across a number of organisations and programmes.

(ii)No single regional register currently exists containing all the information specified. Individual organisations maintain records of their own contracts, grants and other funding arrangements, and certain information on contract awards, procurement activity and public expenditure is published through organisational websites and wider public-sector transparency arrangements. However, these separate sources do not constitute a single consolidated regional register of all community and voluntary sector services funded or commissioned by Public Health Agency, Strategic Planning and Performance Group and Health and Social Care Trusts.

(iii)The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that commissioned services are equitable, accessible and represent value for money. Work continues across the health and social care system to strengthen strategic commissioning, improve data and intelligence, and support more consistent approaches to assessing population need and service provision. The regional Planning Guidance document sets out a range of expected cross-cutting HSC deliverables.